Time for chapter 4. This is the point where this story really starts to take off. This chapter is mainly exposition, but, personally, I like it. It's one of the longer chapters I've written, so be prepared to do a lot of reading. You also meet the fourth main character in this chapter. This one of called "The Brotherhood of Blood". Enjoy.
The Brotherhood of Blood[]
Logan and Brandon decided to travel light. They didn’t bring any extra clothes except pajamas. They brought several weapons each, and Logan brought a few books, but other than that, they didn’t pack anything else. They each had a horse, Logan’s being white, and Brandon’s being brown, which they mounted, and began heading North, towards the Bretonnia-Yharnam border.
When they got there, they made it to a small outpost with seven armed soldiers. The brothers each had to pay one coin in order to pass. They were then allowed to cross the border into Bretonnia. Logan, who had been carrying a map, took the lead as they began heading slightly Northwest. After a few minutes, they began galloping.
Not too long afterwards, they saw a fairly large fort in the middle of a large field. It had a roughly 15 foot wall made of timber, which were built to hold many soldiers on them, while also providing them with cover. There was only one gate, which appeared to be made of metal. The fort was surrounded by a large trench, with a wooden drawbridge connecting the gate to the other side. On the side of the trench closest to the walls of the fort were stakes, which would prevent anyone from getting past.
Upon seeing the fort, Logan began getting nervous. He took his Thracian coin out of its pouch, flipped it with his right hand, and slapped it onto his left wrist. He then felt calm.
“You okay, Logan?” Brandon asked.
“Yeah”, Logan responded. “I’m fine. Just felt a little nervous there.”
“Are you ready to do this?” Brandon asked.
“I’m ready”, Logan answered. “Let’s go.”
As the brothers approached the gate, it opened for them. The inside of the fort consisted of three buildings. One of them was a fairly large building on the opposite side of the fort, which appeared to be the main headquarters. The other two buildings were on the left and right sides of the fort, and were pretty small buildings, only appearing to be a single room. There were also around 20 single person tents, which were made out of treated leather, on the right side of the fort, and 20 double person tents on the left side.
As the gate opened, Logan and Brandon saw that Vladimir, Gideon, and Marcus were waiting for them, and approached the brothers as they entered the fort and dismounted.
“I’m happy you two came”, Vladimir said. “Welcome to the Brotherhood of Blood.”
“That’s what your organization is called?” Brandon asked.
“It is”, Vladimir answered. “Follow me.”
Vladimir, Gideon, and Marcus led Logan and Brandon towards the large building. Brandon noticed that Gideon’s patch that said “Youngblood” had been replaced by one that said “Blooded”. The group entered the building, and entered a room with a large, round table, a large board with names and pictures, and a flag that depicted a red skull and crossbones. There was a man with long hair and a neckbeard, who was clearly out of uniform and appeared to be in his late forties, was looking through a large stack of documents, and didn’t notice the group enter the room.
“Dad!” Vladimir said as he knocked on the table, which clearly startled the old man. “These are the new recruits I was telling you about.” The man stood up.
“Thank you, Vlad”, the man said as he walked over towards Brandon and Logan. “General Ragnar Sakharine, but you can just call me Ragnar”, he said as he extended his hand to the brothers. They both shook his hand. “From what Vlad was telling me, y’all are Atticus’ boys. Logan and Brandon, if I’m not mistaken. Am I right?”
“That is correct”, Logan said.
“I hear you want to join the Brotherhood of Blood”, Ragnar said. “Well, you’re in luck. New recruits are always welcome.” He looked at Marcus. “Marcus, can you go find Deacon and bring him here?”
“I’m on it, boss”, Marcus said before exiting the building.
“Everyone, please take a seat”, Ragnar said. “Now, as we wait for him to come back, do any of y’all have any questions?”
“Why is the organization called the Brotherhood of Blood?” Brandon asked.
“Well”, Ragnar said. “The founders of this organization went through a few different names, and I was actually the one who suggested a name that has to do with blood, since I thought it seemed fitting when we were going against the group that rose from the ashes of the Healing Church, whose whole thing was based around blood. Looking back at it, I think that is a pretty stupid reason, but I like the name, so it’s staying.”
Suddenly, Marcus returned, along with another man, who was clearly older than Brandon, Gideon, and Logan, and he had short hair and a nicely grown beard. His uniform was slightly different than Gideon, Vlad, and Marcus’, since his pants were camouflage instead of olive green. He also had a patch that said “Blooded”. He came in, sat down, and introduced himself as Deacon Wolfhart.
“Now that we’re all here, we can get down to business”, Ragnar said. “Now, there is something that I’d like to tell you all. It’s something that only my son Vlad and I know. Logan, Brandon, Gideon, and Deacon’s father were the founders of the Brotherhood of Blood.” Ragnar could tell that the four of them were shocked. “There was a fourth man, an Armenian named Dartigan Blackhall, but he, alongside his son Nagitrad, disappeared about a year ago, the same time that Atticus Draconis, Stone Wolfhart, and Sebastian Jaeger were murdered by assassins hired by the Silent Fang. Any questions so far?”
“Was Dartigan Blackhall Western or Eastern Armenian?” Logan asked, which earned him a look of surprise from Ragnar.
“Well, color me impressed, lad”, Ragnar said. “Very few people these days know that Armenia used to be two different countries.”
“Yep”, Logan said. “It’s actually the reason why Armenians mainly consist of two different ethnicities.”
“Very good, Logan”, Ragnar said. “Dartigan Blackhall was Eastern Armenian, by the way. Any more questions?” No one responded. “Moving on then. The Silent Fang was formed by the survivors of the Healing Church after it was overthrown by a group of rebels known as the Night Blades. There are a lot of theories about why it was overthrown, but it was most likely because people believed the church was growing too powerful and corrupt. The Silent Fang rose from the ashes of the Healing Church, and eventually fled to the country of Thrace, on the far away continent of Atmora. The Brotherhood of Blood was formed, with the support of the government of Yharnam, to fight the Silent Fang when they started attacking Yharnam’s Western coastal ports, with a force that then consisted of mostly Thracian mercenaries. By the time I joined, the Blood Brothers consisted of about 500 soldiers. The Silent Fang was eventually forced out of Yharnam completely, but that didn’t stop them from doing the same to Bretonnia. Due to an alliance between Yharnam and Bretonnia that had been formed back in Harold Jenkins’ day, we were allowed to build this fort on Bretonnian soil. The citizens of Yharnam were never told that the Brotherhood of Blood existed. Our ranks mainly consist of roughly 2,000 Bretonnian mercenaries, which means our force and the Silent Fang’s force aren’t so different. Unlike the Fang, though, we do not instigate fights. We end them. I want y’all to help drive the Silent Fang completely out of our Continent. Bretonnia, Yharnam, and Armenia should be cleansed of this plague. Any questions?”
“Where do we start?” Brandon asked.
“That’s what I like to hear”, Ragnar said with a smile on his face. He then turned towards the large board behind him. “This board shows us the commanders of the Silent Fang. We were able to get the identities, as well as these drawings of them, but interrogating some of their members. However, we haven’t been able to learn the identity of their leader. All we have been able to learn is that he, or possibly she, is the last descendant of Harold Jenkins.” This surprised Gideon, Deacon, Brandon, and especially Logan.
“Does this mean I have to go against the last member of my idol’s bloodline?” Logan asked.
“I’m afraid it does, young man”, Ragnar said. “I want the four of y’all to be part of our next mission, which is to drive the Silent Fang out of Bretonnia. But before that can happen, my son has an assignment for you Draconis’. Y’all are all dismissed.” Gideon, Marcus, and Deacon left the building, while Ragnar went into a room that was marked as the restroom.
“Logan and Brandon”, Vlad said. “Please come with me.”
“Can I ask you a question, Colonel?” Logan asked.
“Please, call me Vlad”, Vlad said. “And of course you can.”
“With all due respect, aren’t you a little young to be a colonel?” Logan asked, which made Vlad let out a snicker.
“I’ve gotten that more times than you would think”, Vlad said. “When my father became the leader of our organization, he made me his second in command. Let’s go, shall we?”
Vlad led Logan and Brandon towards one of the smaller buildings, which turned out to be the armory.
“All of our men have to wear a uniform”, Vlad said. “Y’all can keep y’alls gloves, belts, pouches, and stuff like that, but you are required to use what we give you.” He grabbed two dark gray, collared shirts, and gave them to Logan and Brandon. “You have to wear these. Y’all are welcome to use whatever books, pants, and headwear that you can find. Y’all are welcome to take one of the two person tents in the fort, since none of them are currently occupied. I’ll see you two tomorrow.” Vlad left the building. The brothers then got into their uniforms. In addition to his gray shirt, Logan chose to use his old gloves and vambraces, as well as camouflage pants, brown boots, and a green headband. Brandon kept his gloves, and, along with his gray shirt, chose olive green pants, brown boots, and green black helmet that was shaped similarly to his favorite fedora.
The brothers went to one of the two person tents in the fort, and decided to settle down. The tent contained two beds, one of which was perpendicular with the entrance to the tent, and the other one was to the left of the entrance. The brothers each picked a bed, took their boots off, set all of their stuff on the ground, and settled down for the night.
End[]
Thanks for reading this chapter. Tell me what you think in the comments. Have a good day.